Erica Gray weaves wild, wearable art with 3Doodler 3D printing pen

Mar 11, 2016 | By Benedict

Australian artist Erica Gray, winner of the 2015 3Doodler Fashion Award, has picked up her 3D printing pen again to create Forms Organic, a wearable sculpture inspired by organic figures and animalistic imagery.

We first became acquainted with the 3Doodled creations of Erica Gray back in November. At that time, Gray, a versatile and talented artist based in Queensland, Australia, had recently finished working on two incredible pieces for the World of WearableArt Show in New Zealand, both of which required the use of 3Doodler’s world famous 3D printing pen. Infinity, a black PVC-coated lycra piece with 3Doodled ABS detailing, was complemented by Crystal Matrix, a stunning white structure made from five intersecting 3Doodled ABS sections. After wowing audiences at the New Zealand exhibition, Crystal Matrix would go on to scoop 3Doodler’s Fashion Award at the inaugural 3Doodler Awards.

Participation in the World of WearableArt Show motivated Gray to continue sketching with the 3D printing pen, and the tail-end of 2015 saw the artist getting wild with a nature-themed project called Forms Organic. An expression of animalistic imagery, the now-complete wearable sculpture possesses a skeletal structure, polymer teeth, nylon tail, and claws, with the main body of the piece “3Doodled around, through, or within those elements”.

Taking a few weeks to complete, Forms Organic evolved naturally from Gray’s initial sketches, with that partially freeform approach reflected in the organic fluidity of the 3D printed artwork itself: “My sculpted works are often themed on organic forms and animalistic imagery,” the artist told 3Doodler, “and this piece captures those fluid forms as well as some more rigid skeletal sections.”

Although Gray’s 3Doodled wearable artworks represent expressions of passionate creativity, a lot of practical planning and focus is required to get them finished. For Forms Organic, the artist had a strict deadline to work towards, having booked her model for a specific time period—a pressure which helped the 3Doodling designer to keep her focus. Gray also had to check her creative impulses at times to ensure that the piece could actually be worn by a human model. “It took a little longer getting the intricacies of the fit right for a moving subject,” she explained.

Gray’s 3Doodling process involved both stencils and freehand drawing. For some of the joints, the artist used roughly sketched stencils. Layers and layers of ABS filament could then be built upon these foundation layers in order to emphasize the underlying shapes. Although Gray’s commitment to bespoke pieces gives her a natural inclination toward freehand creation—such as the 3Doodler affords—she also plans to use a desktop 3D printer for some of her upcoming works. A growing range of 3Doodler filaments could also see the artist experimenting with a wider color palette than has heretofore been seen on her work.

Gray admits that Forms Organic was designed with a particular show in mind, but plans to keep its identity under wraps until an official announcement can be made. We can't wait to see more of her 3Doodled work.